MU Camps Weekly Program (Ages 9-10) Monday Dribbling Turns and Beating Players 1v1 Dribbling Turns o Inside Cut o Outside Cut o Pull Back o Step Over Relay Races Teams of 3 or 4 players with one ball. One central disk and turning box for each team (see diagram). At the go signal, the first player from each team dribbles to the central disk and does a complete circle around the disk before heading to the turning box. At the turning box, the dribbler goes to the far line first, executes the specified turn, crosses the near line, executes the turn, goes back to the far line, executes a turn and then dribbles back to his/her team for the next player to go. If you have three teams, first place gets 3 points, second two points, etc. If you have 4 teams, first place gets 4 points, second place 3, etc. A fun and challenging activity for the players. Good way to break the ice as you can have teams get to know their teammates, give points for cheering and dancing, etc. One Way or Another Red has all the soccer balls. First Red player plays a ball out to the first blue player. Blue can score on either Pugg goal for a point. Red defends blue only after blue touches the ball. Red can get bonus points for using specified turns that you have previously worked on.
Beating Players 1v1 o Lunge o Scissors The Blob 1 ball per player, 40x30 area (grid size can change with numbers). The players with soccer balls start at one of the endlines, the coach (or a mom or dad, or one of your players) starts in the middle of the grid without a soccer ball as the Blob. At the go signal, the players with soccer balls attempt to dribble across the grid to the other endline. The Blob tries to kick a dribblers soccer ball out of the grid. If a dribbler makes it to the other endline with the ball under control (dribblers can't just kick it over the endline from 15 yards away), they wait until the next go signal to cross the grid again. If a dribbler's ball gets kicked out of bounds by the Blob, that player links arms with the Blob to make a larger Blob. Play continues until there are no dribblers left. During the early stages of the game, the coach may decide that players who get their soccer balls kicked out of bounds by the Blob do not have to link arms to make 2- or 3- person Blobs until there are enough players in the middle of the grid. 1v1 Ladder Divide players into two teams and set up the ladder (three lines) as in the diagram. Blue team defends first, red team attacks. If red dribblers can dribble across line 1, they get 1 point. If they can then dribble past the defender on line 2, they get 3 points, past line three is 6 points for a total of 10 if they make it through the entire ladder. Defender can move off their line as soon as the attacker dribbles into the grid in front of them. Once a defender is beat, they cannot recover to try and stop the attacker. Rotate which defenders are at which line, then rotate teams.
1v1 Continuous Set up roughly a 20x15 yd grid with a Pugg goal on each end line. First red player dribbles against first blue defender. If red scores, the next blue player in line immediately attacks the red player (who now becomes the defender). If the ball goes out of play, a new dribbler attacks a new defender. The new dribbler will be from the team that would have been awarded possession of the ball out of bounds. 4v4 Man on Man Play 4v4 but players are assigned a specific partner on the other team to man mark. You can only tackle the ball away from the player you are assigned to mark.
Tuesday Passing and Receiving Fast Feet o Taps o Stop Taps o Step On Taps o Cut Behind Taps Passing Technique Push Pass o Toe of the passing foot up o Ankle of the passing foot locked and tight o Knee of the passing leg bent o Support foot beside the ball, toe pointed at your target o Strike the middle of the ball to impart perfect top spin Through the Gate Players work in pairs with one ball and begin roughly 6 to 8 yards away from each other. The partner without the ball stands with their legs spread wide forming a bridge or gate. The partner with the ball tries to pass the ball through their partners legs for points. 1 point if the ball hits part of the gate but does not go through 2 points if the ball hits part of the gate and goes through 3 points if the ball passes directly through the gate without touching anything This is a great exercise that will keep 10 to 12 players busy and challenges while you go around and give individual attention, making sure everyone is using correct passing technique. Hit the Coconut! Players work in pairs and play against another pair. Place two disks about 8 to 10 yards apart, and set a soccer ball on each disk. These are the coconuts. Team A stands behind one coconut, Team B behind the other. Team A begins with the ball and tries to hit Team B s coconut for a point. Another good exercise to keep the kids challenged while you go around and coach the technique. Soccer Croquette Players work in pairs and with one ball and play against another pair. Begin with the two team s soccer balls about 10 yards apart. The first player on Team A tries to pass and hit Team B s soccer ball for a point. Whether the ball hits the other ball or misses by a mile, Team B s first player now tries to hit Team A s ball wherever Team A s ball comes to rest. First team to 5 wins! Pac Man 1 ball per player, random formation in a confined area.. One player (or more if your group is large) starts with a ball (the Pac Man), all others run freely in the area. The Pac Man dribbles and attempts to hit a freely running player below the waist by passing the ball at them. Freely running players try to avoid getting
hit with the ball. Once a player is hit, he gets a ball and becomes another Pac Man. The game continues until all players have been hit. the last player hit is the first Pac Man in the next game. Cannonball 1 ball per player, 4 equal teams, a 10x10-15x15 yard square grid, a "Cannonball". Each team (A, B, C, D) lines up on one of the lines of the square grid (Team A on one side, Team B on another side, etc). Place the "Cannonball" (a ball that does not look like everyone else's, that players will be able to distinguish from other soccer balls) in the center of the square. At the go signal, players attempt to pass their soccer ball to hit the "Cannonball" and propel it over the line of one of the other teams. No one may enter the grid, so the coach walks around in the middle to kick soccer balls back to teams. If the "Cannonball" is rolling towards a team's line, the only way to stop it is for a player to pass a ball into it, no one can stop the "Cannonball" with their feet. Players start with one ball, but after that they may use any ball that comes over their line or that is kicked back to them by the coach. You can also assign one player from each team as the Retriever. The Retriever has free reign to enter the grid and pass soccer balls back to his/her team. If the ball goes over a team's line, the game is done. You can give 2 points to the team directly opposite from the team whose line the ball crossed, and give 1 point to the other 2 teams directly on either side on the team whose line the ball crossed. Variation: Instead of the coach walking around in the middle of the grid or having a Retriever, players can pass at the "Cannonball" until you say "Reload!". At that time, all attempts to hit the "Cannonball" stop, and players may run into the grid to collect soccer balls. The players must use only their feet when collecting and must dribble a soccer ball back over their line. If players run into the grid and there are not enough soccer balls, they may attempt to steal a ball away from another team's player that found a ball. Once a player dribbles a ball back over his line, that ball is "safe" and cannot be taken. The game begins again when you yell "Fire Away!" Receiving Turns Inside Arc Turn Work in groups of three with one ball. Player in the middle works on Arc Turns. Arc Turns to Goal Take the skill and have the players finish on goal. 5v5 Hit the Targets Space a number of disks along each team s endline. Balance soccer balls on the disks. Play 5v5 or 6v6 in the grid, but instead of going to goal, teams get goals for knocking the soccer balls off the disks on their opponent s end line.
Wednesday Shooting/Finishing Juggling Challenges Beating Players 1v1 o Fake Shot Cut o Fake Shot Push Shooting Progression 1) Individual Sitting Players begin by sitting on the ground, knees slightly bent, each player has their own ball. Players then lean forward and practice hitting the ball out of their hands, up in the air, then catching it. Coaching Points: Toe of the kicking foot pointed down, ankle locked and tight. Good contact with the laces (hard bone of the foot) Swing from the hip. Top or no spin on the soccer balls. 2) Partner Sitting Groups of 2, one ball. Worker starts in the same position as the first drill, but this time, his/her partner drops the ball for them to kick. Focus on good contact, and good technique from previous drill. 10 with each foot. 3) Partner Standing Groups of 2, one ball. Player A sits on the ground, legs straight ahead of them, toes pointed to the sky. Place the ball directly against this partner s shoe bottoms. Player B then approaches the ball to shoot. This player can take a big wind-up still, and should make LIGHT contact with the ball! Coaching Points: Plant foot beside the ball, toe pointed towards the target Knee and upper body over the ball at time of contact Good balance, the working player should be able to balance on their plant foot while the sitting player coaches them on the form (body not over the ball, plant foot not next to the ball, etc) 10 with each foot.
2v2 Shooting Wars Two teams (blue and green) of four players play against each other. Each team chooses 2 players to begin, the other 2 team members are retrievers, and supply soccer balls. Players on the blue team pass the ball around their grid, and look for a shooting opportunity, their opponents (green) play as goalkeepers. After blue shoots, they immediately become the goalkeepers and green becomes the shooters. Play for 2 minutes, then the shooters become retrievers, and vice versa. This game should be played at a high pace, and is very enjoyable for young players. 1v1 to Goal
Thursday Heading Aerial Ball Control o Thigh Control o Laces Control Heading Progression 1. Worker on their stomach, Server kneeling 3 to 4 feet in front of their partner Worker arches their back, Server serves underhand and Worker heads the ball back to the Server's hands 2. Worker in the "crab" position, hands and feet are the only body parts touching the ground, pelvis in the air Server is standing 3 yards away and serves underhand, trying to lob the ball onto the Worker's chest Worker crunches their stomach, pelvis lowering, and snaps forward to head the ball back into the Server's hands 3. Worker on their knees, back arched, chin tucked down a bit Server stands 4 to 5 yards away and serves the ball underhand to their partner's head Worker dives forward to head the ball, landing on their hands and stomach, face looking forward (not in the dirt) 4. Both partners standing Server serves to Worker, Worker gets their back arched as the ball travels, and then snaps forward to head the ball back into their partner's hands
Heading Wars Divide into teams of 3, two teams play against each other (A and B). Set up two 8-yard goals, 6-8 yards apart with a midline (see below) Each team designates 1 server (S), 1 retriever (R), & 1 worker (W). The blue server serves to the blue worker who heads and tries to score on green worker who is playing goalkeeper. As soon as blue worker heads the ball, he/she must retreat and play goalkeeper. Green server then serves the ball to green worker who now tries to score of blue worker. The retrievers must be active and constantly supply their servers with soccer balls to keep the game moving. Rotate header to retriever & retriever to thrower. This is a very fun and competitive game that your players will love!